After taking the bus back to the Riverside, we all took showers and changed. Then we hopped on the bus to the Expo. Kassady wasn’t able to spend time there on Thursday when she picked up her bib.

We wandered around for a while looking for something for Kassady. She didn’t see anything in the Official Merchandise. We did notice the Princess ornaments had sold out at this point. She was debating between a shirt at Raw Threads and one other booth. She ended up getting the shirt at Raw Threads and will be wearing it at the Dark Side 10k. Once the shopping was done, we decided to thoroughly enjoy the Beauty and the Beast area. They had costumes used during the filming.

They also had a rose display for pictures and a magic mirror that cycled through the characters and the actors that played them.

As we finally left, they had what I assume is the official movie theater stand up.

This banner was over the exit of the Expo.

We all agreed we were hungry. We had reservations for the Soda Shop at Beach Club later in the afternoon. So, we caught the bus that stopped at the Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk, and Yacht & Beach Club. We decided to get off at the Boardwalk and find something for lunch there.

We walked around and ended up at the Boardwalk Bakery.

They had a good selection of sandwiches. We each ordered our sandwich and then carried it out to the tables by the water for a nice lunch.

After we finished eating, we walked over to the Beach Club. We wandered to hallway to the Soda Shop. We found some really interesting sand displays on the walls.

The Soda Shop is right next to one of the best resort pools on property.

They have a menu posted by the door. I think it is because they do offer take out.

We were there a little too early so we waited outside until our table was ready. They had a cute table and chair on the patio. We sat on the bench against the building.

After about 15 minutes, we were seated. Here is the full menu.

There are some seats at the bar.

Since we were there for dessert, we each ordered an ice cream creation. I got the mini-Kitchen Sink, Kassady got a banana split, and Jamie ordered a No Way Jose.

We were all very pleased with our selections.

I don’t think any of us completely finished.

Once we were done, they took my mini-Kitchen Sink and washed it out for me to take home. We decided to take the bus to Disney Springs since we knew we would have to double hop to get back to Riverside. Here is the bus depot at Disney Springs.

This was my first trip to Disney Springs since they finished this section. I must admit, it is beautiful.

They had tons of banners up for the race. Here are a few of my favorites.

We decided to take the boat back to Riverside. The boat dock for Riverside is all the way on the other side of Disney Springs by the old bus depot. We did get to walk through some really beautiful areas.

We passed the Sprinkles location.

We had to walk around where the old bus depot was located and then back down towards the water. To me, there has to be a better way to access this. I guess you could probably take the internal boat over to this boat dock.

After waiting quite a while and through several internal boat arrivals and one resort boat, our boat finally arrived… the Magnolia Blossom.

There were several of the amphicars on the water.

It is a nice, leisurely boat ride back to Port Orleans Riverside. They stop first at Saratoga Springs, then Old Key West, before reaching Port Orleans. I think they stop at French Quarter before Riverside on this route, but I can’t quite remember now. Once we reached Riverside, we went back to the room and said goodbye to Kassady.

By this time, it was time to get an early dinner. So, off to the food court we went. The line for the pasta was ridiculously long. I noticed a special on the line in the back corner that was only 2 people long. I decided that special was good enough for me. Once Jamie figured out what I was doing, she joined me. It wasn’t worth waiting on the huge pasta line when the special was a pasta dish. So, we both ended up getting baked ziti with a breadstick.

To our delight, it was a really good meal. We then headed back to the room for an early bedtime. On the way, we saw the outdoor movie being projected on the lawn in our building.

These bins were filled with containers of popcorn.

Once we got back to the room, I took out my costume and pinned on my bib. I made sure all my pieces were set out. Then we settled in for the potential 5-6 hours of sleep before the half.